1. Field of the Invention
A spring seat assembly for a suspension system of a vehicle of the type using a coil spring.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Vehicle suspension systems of the prior art typically include spring seat assemblies each having a pair of opposing spring seat retainers with a coil spring disposed therebetween. Spring seat retainers of a variety of configurations are well known in the art. An example of a configuration of a spring seat retainer is shown in European Publication No. 0 778 166 B1. The spring seat retainer disclosed in this European Publication is formed of a polymeric material and includes a flange extending radially from a central axis. A pocket portion extends from the flange to a distal end and supports a coil spring encircling the pocket portion. A jounce bumper is disposed within a cavity of the pocket portion and extends from the distal end. A spring isolator, which is a pad having a donut shaped configuration, abuts the flange of the spring seat retainer. The spring isolator is designed to absorb noise upon compression of the coil spring. Spring isolator pads of this type are useful, but can be cumbersome to install and have operational limitations.
The prior art has also contemplated an isolator pad having a corrugated configuration to improve performance. U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,544 to Solomond et al. discloses a spring seat retainer having a flange extending radially from a central axis. A spring isolator, which is again a pad having a donut shaped configuration, abuts the flange of the spring seat retainer. The spring isolator is corrugated for absorbing noise upon a compression of the coil spring.
Although the prior art has developed improved designs, there remains a need to develop a spring seat retainer that incorporates the advantages of the prior art isolator pads while avoiding the potential drawbacks of these pads.